By Dan Feldman

Detroit Free Press Special Writer

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Dan Feldman writes for the Detroit Pistons blog PistonPowered. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. PistonPowered writers will contribute a column every Friday at freep.com/pistons. Contact Dan anytime at pistonpowered@gmail.com or on Twitter @pistonpowered.

Like most Pistons fans, I suspect, I shook my head when they inserted Charlie Villanueva into the rotation.

Then, after taking some time to process the decision, I rolled my eyes.

Finally, I allowed my emotions to cool, realizing I must make a rational evaluation.

I groaned.

Villanueva -- somewhat deservingly and somewhat not -- has become a target of scorn during the Pistons’ struggles the last few seasons. He has been overpaid (not his fault), underwhelming (partially his fault) and disinterested in making the effort plays necessary to win (his fault).

It seems, every year, he pledges that he’s in better shape and more motivated, but the results never show it. Villanueva, I guess because of injury and vague excuses the Pistons gave, played in just 13 games last season, and it seemed better that way. Out of sight, out of mind.

But Villanueva already has played in 14 games this season, because -- well, because he has deserved it.

I can’t claim Villanueva suddenly has become an exceptionally good player, and the ship on him living up to his five-year, $37.7-million contract has long sailed. But for the first time, Villanueva is really helping the Pistons’ offense.

In the last three seasons, he has scored at a remarkably similar rate: 18.1, 18.1 and 18.2 points per 36 minutes.

This year, that number has fallen to 17.7. But for the first time, the Pistons score considerably more while he plays.

With Villanueva on the court, the Pistons score 109.1 points per 100 possessions.

With Villanueva off the court, the Pistons score 98.3 points per 100 possessions.

So why has Villanueva helped Detroit’s offense while his scoring has slipped? There are two major reasons:

1. He’s playing more unselfishly than ever.

2. He’s more focused on three-pointers than ever.

Many backups -- especially backups who don’t play regularly, and among them, especially Villanueva -- tend to shoot wantonly when they play. They have so little opportunity to boost their scoring average, they don’t waste time when they get a chance.

Villanueva, though, looks like a willing passer this year, and the numbers support that perception.

His usage percentage -- the percentage of possessions while he’s on the court that end with him shooting, getting to the free-throw line or turning the ball over -- is a career low. And his assists per minutes are a career high.

His three-point percentage, 40.4, also is a career high. I don’t really expect him to continue to shoot so well from outside the arc, considering his career three-point percentage is 34.8. But Villanueva can keep shooting three-pointers just as often.

For the first time, a majority of Villanueva’s shots are three-pointers – 57% of them, at that. Throughout his career, Villanueva has been a more efficient three-point shooter than two-point shooter, so in that simple sense, he’s taking better shots.

Villanueva’s outside shooting also helps space the floor. A majority of his minutes come with Rodney Stuckey, Corey Maggette and Andre Drummond -- three players who score best near the rim. When those four play together, the Pistons’ offense is even better than when examining Villanueva’s minutes in isolation. In fact, that four-man lineup has the best offensive rating of any Pistons foursome that has played at least 90 minutes together.

Of course, this entire article has focused on Villanueva’s offense. At this point, if he’s a positive only on that end, I’ll take it.

Villanueva is usually a disinterested defender, never a good one. He’s also not a very good rebounder for his position.

As limited as he is, it’s possible he has played well enough to avoid being amnestied this summer.

Amnestying a player to clear cap room is expensive, because not only must his team pay the amnestied player, it must pay his replacement. Essentially, amnestying Villanueva would cost the Pistons up to double Villanueva’s salary next season.

Attendance for Pistons games is low, and that hurts the team’s profits. Plus, Villanueva is no longer a useless player. It might be just the right combination to keep him in Detroit one more year.

Perhaps, Villanueva’s production will tail off. He has played just 210 minutes this season, a pretty small sample.

But that, unlike the other side of the amnesty equation, is out of our control.

So, fans, get to the Palace for a win-win. This is your chance to watch Villanueva play well. And if you buy enough tickets, you’ll never have to watch him again.